Vulnerable people and those suffering extreme hardship can get immediate access to emergency welfare payments through Centrelink, after the agency moved to the new payments platform developed by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

One of Australia’s largest debt collection firms, ACM Group, has been slammed in the Federal Court for its harassment and coercion in pursuing debts from consumers who had defaulted on their Telstra phone bills.

One-third of the appeals made by those who were slugged with debts by Centrelink, over what has come to be known as the Federal Government's robo-debt scheme, have been upheld by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.